Vegetable bake

This dish was inspired on a recipe from James Martin. He describes it as a perfect dish to serve at dinner parties to be able to give a wide range of different vegetables, without having to use many dishes. I completely agree with that, but it also is a great dish when you are busy, because the actual hands on time is very little. Since it has only a little fat and lots of vegetables, it is also a healthy dish, but is still satisfying because of all the hearty, roasty flavours. So perfect to give a bit of balance after the Christmas and New Year’s feasts.

Mine had sausages, thyme, lemon, potato, fennel, butternut squash, onion, garlic and carrot. Without the sausages it is a perfect side dish for roasts, rosemary and honey are a great alternative for the thyme and lemon, and other vegetables like parsnip, celeriac, swede/turnip, sweet potato, but also courgette, aubergine, paprika and mushrooms work very well. Basically all vegetables that cook well in the oven without much fat or liquid work.

The recipe is so straightforward, that I don’t even need to write a real recipe. Just cut up all the vegetables you want to use (small potatoes can stay whole), throw them in a baking dish. Add your flavouring of choice (herbs, lemon, honey, etc), peel some garlic cloves, smash them with your knife and throw in the dish too. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle some olive oil over the vegetables and mix. The oil should be enough to coat all the vegetables, but not so much that it puddles in the bottom. Then place the sausages (if using) on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 220C for about 45 minutes, or until the sausages and vegetables are cooked.